Latest Boxing News in Brief: 31 January

January 31st, 2011 |

Latest Boxing News in Brief – Monday 31^st January For: Adamek vs. McBride, Amir Khan, Carl Froch, Carl Froch, David Haye, Giovanni Segura, ‘I`ll Go to War with Andy Lee!’, Ivan Calderon, Jamie “Mr Business”, Pittman, Liebling Award, Odlanier Solis, Paul McCloskey, Pete Hamill, Vitali Klitschko

Calderón-Segura II on April 2 - Former WBO 108lb champion Ivan Calderon will allegedly have a rematch with reigning WBO/WBA champion Giovanni Segura on April 2 in Mexico according to credible sources. The television money weighed in this decision, which should be announced in the coming days.

Hamill wins Liebling Award — Veteran New York journalist and author Pete Hamill has been selected by the Boxing Writers Association of America as the winner of this year’s A.J. Liebling Award. Bestowed since 1995 by the BWAA, the award honors the elegant New Yorker stylist, who chronicled the sport for decades and whose work was subsequently collected in the timeless boxing books The Sweet Science and A Neutral Corner. The Liebling Award will be presented at the BWAA’s annual dinner in Las Vegas on May 6th.

‘I`ll Go to War with Andy Lee!’ - Scottish and Irish boxing fans on the East Coast of America are gearing up for their Fight of the Year as Holywood-based, Edinburgh middleweight Craig McEwan takes on Limerick’s Andy Lee at the Foxwoods Caino, Connecticut on 12th March. The fight ,which is being billed by top promoter Lou Di Bello as the ‘Celtic War’, is effectively a world title eliminator. Connecticut is deep in the heart of Irish America and it is likely that Lee’s countrymen will greatly outnumber Scottish fans on the night. However McEwan, who likes to fight as the underdog, will not be fazed by this.

WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KO’s) has decided to start his training camp this week for his May 21st bout against 42-year-old Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KO’s) for their semifinals Super Six tournament bout. As of now, there isn’t a designated venue, but Froch is holding out hope that the fight will take place in the UK. It’s going to be up to Showtime whether they’ll agree to that.

Khan reaches out to Katsidis — With negotiation attempts with EBU light welterweight champion Paul McCloskey and Lamont Peterson having been tried and failed, WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) now says his management will be contacting lightweight contender Michael Katsidis (27-3, 22 KO’s) on Monday to see if he’ll be interested in a fight on April 16th in the UK.

Adamek vs. McBride - Heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (43-1, 28 KO’s) has reportedly signed the contract to face 37-year-old Kevin McBride (35-8-1, 29 KO’s) in a tune-up bout on April 16th, at the Spodek, Katowice, Poland. According to fightnews.com, the contracts have been signed for this fight, which is a warm-up for the 34-year-old Adamek for his September bout against one of the Klitschko brothers in Poland.

Pittman and Leapai win — By Ray Wheatley - Former WBA middleweight challenger Jamie “Mr Business” Pittman (21-2, 8 KOs) was impressive as he outscored Tim Kanofski (11-4) in an action bout over six rounds at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broad Beach Queensland, Australia on Saturday. Pittman, 6’1, boxing from the southpaw stance controlled the action in all the rounds as he connected, consistently with accurate combinations on his aggressive opponent. Kanofski came to fight but had no answer to the world class skills of the Athens 2004 Olympian. Pittman’s amateur record: (111-26). Pittman lost WBA middleweight challenge in 2008 when Felix Sturm stopped him in seven rounds. Pittman is managed by Bill Treacy and trained by Graham Shaw. “Pittman will be in regular action in 2011 and we will be looking for world rated opponent,” said Shaw.

Unbeaten former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Odlanier Solis (17-0, 12 KO’s) is really serious his March 19th title challenge against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) at the Lanxess-Arena, in Cologne, Germany. Solis, who came into his last fight in December weighing a fat looking 260 pounds, is currently training in the snow-covered mountains in Germany and is putting in 2 1/2 hours of roadwork each day to lose some of the fat that’s collected on his once lean 200 pound frame.

By Mark Vester — WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch would have liked to take part in a doubleheader with his close friend, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, but he doesn’t believe it’s possible. Froch faces Glen Johnson in the semi-finals of the Super Six tournament on May 21, which is the same date as Haye’s scheduled title defense at the O2 Arena in London. — Sky Sports wanted Froch and Haye to take part in a pay-per-view doubleheader on the May 21 date. Froch says his contract in the Super Six orders the semi-finals, and the final bout, to take place in the United States. He’s not too happy about that, but says there is a chance that his fight with Johnson will take place in Canada. - “David is an old mate from my amateur days and we have been talking about a double header with Sky,” said Froch to the Nottingham Post. “I think it would be really good. But Showtime have said from day one that the semi-finals and finals would be in America. There is a chance I could fight in Canada and I might have to settle for that.”

Emanuel Steward, Wladimir Klitschko trainer talks about Tomasz Adamek